to want to make sure that my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care of and that if there's anything that i can do to help anybody at any time, anywhere, i'd be willing to do that. as we move on from what happened here, what happened to so many people, let it not turn into something that defines us, but something that inspires us to be better, to be more compassionate and more humble people. >> a father, a family, a >> a nation, weary of these types of tragedies, how do we stop this from collectively happening again? those are the questions to ponder. i'm don lemon, live in newtown, connecticut. our coverage continues.

good evening, everyone, from newtown, connecticut, i'm anderson cooper, back for a special edition of "360" tonight. police are still combing through every crack and crevice, where the gunman shot and killed six and seven-year-olds. they're also at the home of the identified shooter, trying to learn any clues, whatever they can, why he did what he did, in particular. president obama will be here tomorrow visiting the families of the victims, the 20 kids, and six adults, also talking to first responders. and talking at a prayer vigil tomorrow evening. and we are learning more about these young victims tonight. the 12 little girls, eight boys

shot in the classrooms. most of what we are learning is from their parents, publicly sharing their grief. you were there earlier when the father of emilie parker came out of his house and wanted to tell people. wanted to talk to tv cameras, and just talk in a very human way about his daughter, about what she was like. about the life she lived. >> reporter: and he was very clear what the reason he wanted to come out and face cameras, you know, he knows this is national television. he wanted to make sure that people across the country knew that he wanted to say thank you. and he also wanted to share a message that we're better than this. that society cannot be defined by this single act. he lost a six-year-old girl. and it is one thing to think about the number. it is a totally different thing to watch this man talk, to look at the pictures of this beautiful girl. and to fully comprehend that this family has suffered a true,

true loss. here is what he told us. >> i was leaving to work, and -- she woke up before i left. and i actually had been teaching her portugese, so our last conversation was in portugese. she told me good morning. and asked how i was doing. and i said that i was doing well. she said that she loved me. and i gave her a kiss and i was out the door. as the deep pain begins to settle into our hearts we find comfort, reflecting on the incredible person that emilie was. and how many lives that she was able to touch in her short time here on earth. em emilie was bright, creative, very bright. my daughter, emilie, would be

the first one to stand and give support to all of those victims, because that is the type of person she is. not because of any parenting that my wife and i could have done, but because those were the gifts that were given to her by her heavenly father. >> and he also said that he was very proud to be her father, that he was going to be the best father he could to his two remaining children. a three-year-old and a four-year-old girl, her sisters. he did also say that he wanted to make sure that he extended his condolences to the shooter's family, because they also suffered a loss, anderson. and the thing that is really extraordinary is how he is able to get his message out and still keep it together. it is really -- it is hard to -- to watch. and to comprehend. >> and how does a father tell a three and a four-year-old daughter that their sister, their big sister is gone? so many -- well, it is just

incredible. appreciate you reporting tonight. residents of stratford, connecticut, remember one victim as a fallen hero. people wore green in honor of victoria soto who grew up in stratford. she was twenty-seven years old. and taught first grade at sandy hook elementary school. they are wearing her favorite color, green. it sounds as though the community really adored that teacher and really wanted to show that in a very public way. >> you're exactly right, anderson, that is exactly what happened here tonight. the family saying that it basically all started on facebook with a facebook message, let's get together. let's find out a way to honor victoria, vicky, as her family and friends called her, victoria soto. and so that is what they did, they came out tonight in front of her high school. everybody was talking about her, saying she wanted to be a

teacher ever since she was a little girl. and they talked about how dedicated this young woman was to her students. and in fact, she didn't even refer to them as students. she always referred to them as her kids. and out here as you can imagine, with her sister being here, her brother being here, her parents being here, her cousin, as well, gathered together. they struggled to find ways to remember her. i spoke to one young woman who knew vicky soto throughout her entire life. listen to how she spoke about her tonight. >> she was always at the house, smiling. she drove us to cheerleading practices a couple of times. i'm also a teacher, and i can't even imagine going through what she went through. i think putting herself out there, she is just an angel, and she just went straight into heaven. there is no doubt about that.

>> reporter: as you can see, anderson, obviously, it is an emotional struggle for so many people out here tonight. at one moment, carly soto, she is nineteen years old, she stood up in front of several hundred people gathered out here tonight. and she spoke just briefly, she reminded the audience to hug your loved ones, she said, because you just never know when you're going to see them again. it was a very powerful moment as the family paid tribute to a woman who they say was a dedicated teacher. a loving daughter, and someone who loved her children or her students. anderson? >> oh, one family says they owe their son's life to vicky soto. they spoke to kate baldwin, about their son yesterday and how he is coping with what they have seen. >> reporter: anderson, they had two children at the elementary school yesterday. a second grader and their son in

first grade, who they say it is a miracle he made it out alive after coming face to face with the shooter. >> and that is when they heard noises that he described as -- initially they thought were hammers falling. and then they realized that it was gunshots. and ms. soto, who was aiden's teacher, had the presence of mind to move all of the children to a distance away from the door on the side of the room, furtarr away from the door. and that is when the gunman burst in, did not say a word, no facial expressions, and proceeded to shoot their teacher. and they basically ran right next to the guy and out the door. >> they ran past the guy? >> they ran past the guy. he is still standing in the door. and they ran past him and down the hallway, near one of the closest rooms to the main

entrance. and aiden had the presence of mind to hold the door for one of his classmates. and there was another one of his classmates, a little behind and waited for him. and then they all ran to the main road, all the way down. >> reporter: and of course we all know his teacher died in that classroom trying to protect her students. >> he knows his teacher was shot. do you think he knows what -- that she likely did not make it? >> he keeps asking about her, and i think she is reassuring himself that she is going to be okay. he really -- really cared for his teacher. he was very close with her, and she really loved her class. and he keeps saying i really hope she is okay. i hope it is not her. he knows that she has been hurt. but he doesn't know the end result. he knows the kids that he saw getting shot. he doesn't know the outcome. so i think he is reassuring

himself in his six-year-old mind. i know he is processing it. but i think he is reassuring himself. i think he is telling himself that it is going to be okay. we had to put the sign out in the front today asking people not the ring the door bell, because he still has not internalized the fact that this gunman, this bad guy is gone. and he wants to know if there are more bad guys in the world. and i don't know how to answer that question properly. and so when someone rings the door bell he thinks it is him coming back -- coming for him. and so he -- you know, he -- so i think our biggest concern now is making sure that we handle his sensitive nature properly and carefully and support him. and support our daughter, because she again does process things very differently than he does. so that is our job as parents now, to stay close to them.

hold them, hug them, love them, and let them know that they are safe. >> reporter: they did not want their children to be part of the interview, but i did spend time with them this morning. and aiden and his sister, they seemed in high spirits, but clearly shaken. and as hard as it has been for this family they say that their hearts go out to so many other families who cannot go home and hug their children tonight. anderson? >> yeah, kate, thank you, one of the busiest places in newtown, connecticut, may have been the grief counseling center. both victims and those affected by what happened friday got the chance to speak to someone if they wanted about what they were feeling. the healing comes in honoring those victims, the giant memorial to those kids. joining us is dr. sanjay gupta who was there earlier. and we're looking at the picture of the makeshift memorials that sprung up.

as so often springs up during tragedies. people just spontaneously expressing their sorrow and grief, in ways large and small. you have actually been looking at studies about how kids in this age range, young kids, deal with witnessing a traumatic event. >> first of all, ptsd is something we think about with adults. we don't talk about it with young kids, children, it exists. their behavior is different. they don't have the flashbacks, and the hyper vigilance that we associate with ptsd. sometimes you see it in the way they play, or dress. they may act younger, they may just have behavior that seems out of sorts. and often care givers don't know what to make of it. and it can be a form of ptsd. >> and the time table, does it play out immediately or is it something that shows up months

later? >> no, it often shows up very early. and that was a very important point. because if you notice it early that is pretty normal for both adults and children alike. if it turns into anxiety and nightmares or loss of sleep, then that is time to maybe get some help. and we talked about it last night, anderson, and if you look at the studies, it is really compelling stuff if somebody gets good sleep. good quality sleep. you can predict much more accurately how well they're going to be able to cope in the long run. and that is sleep -- last night, tonight, parents watching their child's sleep patterns tonight is really important in predicting that. >> something we talked about a couple of hours ago, i just think it bears repeating. i think it has concerned a lot of parents, parents whose kids are on the spectrum of autism, or has aspergers. yesterday there was a quote from

the brother who said he believed his brother had a form of autism, and that he also had a personality disorder. it is easy to link those two things together. autism is not a personality disorder. so let's just clarify again. >> yes, because as you always say, anderson, terms do matter here. and when you talk about autism or on the autism spectrum, is what they call it. it is a neuro-developmental disorder. that is something that happens from birth, or maybe a mental illness that could come on later in life. but the crucial point here, it is not associated with planned violence. it just isn't. >> i have never heard of a young person with autism committing a pre-planned act of violence. >> i hadn't either, but today, because we talked about it last night i went and looked at the studies again. the study quoted was of about 132 people. that was not a big study, but

one of the only ones out there. and out of those, only three, mentions of violence and none of them pre-planned. so i think i can safely say there is no link between autism spectrum and pre-planned violence, so we can dispel that. >> and i have heard from a lot of parents on twitter and elsewhere, outraged that people are using the term "autism" and linking it to the shooting. >> yeah, i hope they're watching. because i think it is an educational point. that is just not true, it is just not true. >> what should parents be watching for, do you think in the next couple of days? >> i think you know, there is a lot of normal sort of grief that is going on. i think obviously with children it is not going to be sort of the thing -- it is not going to be the things that you might expect. adults obviously have a much better way of verbalizing these things. i think it is important for

parents to note. this is normal in the first few days. what happens is that if it progresses longer term, then people do need to get help. there is a help center available here, there is not enough sort of thinking of mental illness or these types of problems with physical illness as it is. we tend to put these things in different buckets. so the idea that you could think of mental illness the same way we think of cardiac issues, diabetes, cancer. it is stigmatized, there are not enough resources, but hopefully it will catch on. >> and for parents who have a child with mental illness issues, we have seen in the past cases, with the virginia tech issue, the parents tried to get help for the child or for the young adult. and unless that person can be proved to be violent or is a threat to themselves or somebody

else they often can't get help. >> that is right. parents can anguish over this. it is not that they missed the signs, often they know the signs but couldn't get help. and at virginia tech, three quarters of the students had ptsd, so this can last a long time. >> important information, sanjay, up next, our coverages continues from here in newtown. we'll be right back. my wife takecentrum silver. i' been on the fence abo it.

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if you've been watching a lot of coverage of this tragedy, you no doubt know the name of the shooter by now. we are not during this broadcast using the name of the shooter. you probably already know, there's no need to repeat it over and over and over again. often it seems that in history remembers the names of murderers and not the names of victims.

and i think that's -- i just think that it shouldn't be. so we're trying to do what we can to not contribute to that name being out there and being known as a household name from here on out. witnesses to the shooting yesterday say that the first shots rang out and just as the morning announcements were being read at the elementary school and police are trying to hammer down exactly what happened before that moment. tom foreman breaks it down for us right now with what investigators know so far. >> police are essentially constructing a map of all of the places that might have had connections to this shooter. for example, his brother's apartment down here in new jersey across new york up into connecticut. his mother's house where she was found dead. only about three miles away, of course, the school. to try to figure out what led him to this spot at that time because they do believe that shortly after murdering his mother, he did drive the few miles from her house to this school and emerge in this parking lot with weapons very much like these to go into the school.

now, let's look at the time line of what happened. that's what they're trying to reconstruct. about 9:30 in the morning, that's when we believe based on eyewitness accounts and police radio, that he probably left his car, we think this is the one over here, based on the investigation, and came up to the front of the school. it's also when he encountered his first obstacle. because these security doors were installed to keep people out. police later said the glass had been broken out of these. that's apparently how he got into the school with those weapons. what we know for sure is based on police reports, by 9:36, we had our first calls into the police station saying that shooting was occurring inside the school and, of course, everybody within the school was alerted to the sound of the gunfire. if they didn't hear it directly, they heard it over the p.a. system in this school where announcements were being made at that time. even though all of the shooting took place in a relatively small area up here.

this is also significant, by 9:38, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes later, police were saying if not all the shooting, a bulk of the shooting was over, a very short period of time in a very small area where it all seemed to occur. what happened after that? well, it progressed even further. by about 9:40 in the morning, police were calling for emergency medical technicians to come there, for ambulances to come. a few minutes later, they called for a whole lot more ambulances to come. and by 9:50 or so in the morning, they were essentially saying the scene was secure. they had a suspect who was down. they had cleared the building. that many of the children were being led out, as you can see in this photograph from "the newtown bee." and that the situation was more or less secure. there is still a lot of work to be done obviously. but as you can see, as we look at this time line closer and closer, it's coming down to a very short period of time, 20 minutes or less from the beginning to the end of this in terms of people really knowing what was happening.

and now this huge, long, long search to understand why it happened. anderson? >> tom, thanks very much. we want to go to our david ariosto who's in the neighborhood where the mother of this shooter lived. david, what are you learning about this lady? >> anderson, this is where that first murder took place before the shooter headed over to that elementary school. we've talked to neighbors in and around the area here. they paint a picture of a woman who was killed right before that shooting -- they describe her sort of as this pleasurable woman, a woman who was a very pleasant person to be around. someone who loved gardening, loved landscaping, someone who attended a monthly dice game with many people in the neighborhood. it's a tight-knit community in this southwestern connecticut town. and even though you can't really get a sense of it now, it is one

of the more picturesque places i'm standing in. rolling green hills and quite an affluent neighborhood, two and three-story homes. the thinking is people moved to this area because of the school systems. so it strikes a particular chord that this occurred within an elementary school. but then you also have that other side, the talk of this woman, nancy lanza, who collected guns, some high-powered weapons as in that bushmaster that was used in the elementary school shooting. it's not clear whether she attended some of the shooting ranges in the area although we know there are at least three shooting ranges within a 20-mile range of this area. one of the workers that i spoke to at a local business here said that she often showed her rifle -- showed a rifle that she had recently purchase and even brought her children target shooting. not clear if that occurred at those ranges or just in and around the area. atf and federal officials we've

spoken to, fbi, said that that didn't occur. there's really quite a bit of conflicting information as to what transpired here. but one neighbor perhaps sort of said it best. something just doesn't quite add up as to who this woman was, why she was killed and what transpired in really the minutes after her death. >> yeah, there are so many questions still unanswered, at this point david, appreciate the reporting. we'll take a short break. our coverage continues in a moment. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. she also likes to ride her bike. she knows the potential for making or losing money

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pictures in this hour and ins ahead, we're trying to focus as much as we can on the victims and letting you know about the lives they lived, not just how they lost their lives but the kind of lives they lived, who they were. and today we're able to tell you more about them than we were yesterday. and no doubt tomorrow we'll be able to tell you even more as

family members come forward and want to share their grief and want to share their memories of their loved ones. those of us from outside are now learning more about the women and the children who lost their lives on friday at sandy hook elementary school. take a look. >> victoria soto's family says she had her students huddled behind her trying to protect them when she was shot and killed at the elementary school. her cousin says the hardest part was waiting to hear whether she had survived or not. >> at that point, it was the hardest for the whole family, just the waiting game. to receive word on what happened to vicki's class. >> also killed, lauren russo, hired just last month as a permanent substitute teacher. her family says she always wanted to be a teacher since before she even went to kindergarten. the school psychologist says on her web page she has two daughters in their 20s, married 31 years. and goes to a lake house with

her husband, in upstate new york and the principal, dawn hochsprung saying she was excited about teaching. >> to lose somebody like that in our district, it's sad. >> she was a personal friend and a wonderful leader. >> she had recently overseen the installation of a new security system requiring every visitor after 9:30 a.m. to get buzzed in and show id. >> she truly did believe in creating an environment where children felt safe. i think that that's really the tragic irony of this entire situation. >> she was also a parent herself, raising two daughters and three stepdaughters. friends and parents say hochsprung was passionate and dedicated, tough but caring and one said the kids loved her. >> the principal who, god bless her, lost her life, was just a very special person and all the parents knew that.

>> wolf blitzer, cnn, newtown, connecticut. >> at one point earlier tonight, a man stepped forward before cameras to pay an incredibly loving tribute to his own daughter, emilie parker was just 6 years old. she was one of the little girls killed yesterday. her father, robbie parker, said he is even praying for the shooter's family tonight, watch >> i'd really like to offer our deepest condolences to the families who were directly affected by this shooting. it's an horrific tragedy and we want everybody to know that our hearts and our prayers go out to them. this includes the family of the shooter. i can't imagine how hard this experience must be for you and i want you to know that our family and our love and our support goes out to you as well. my daughter, emilie, would be

one of the first ones to be standing and giving her love and support to all those victims because that's the type of person that she is, not because of any parenting that my wife and i could have done, but because those were the gifts that were given to her by her heavenly father. i have two really good friends at home who have set up a facebook page to help raise money for emilie. when i've gotten on that and seen the number of people who have commented and expressed their condolences, it's been quite overwhelming. as the deep pain begins to settle into our hearts, we find comfort reflecting on the incredible person that emilie was and how many lives that she was able to touch in her short time here on earth. emilie was bright, creative and very loving. emilie was always willing to try new things, other than food. she loved to use her talents to

touch the lives of everyone that she came into contact with. she was an exceptional artist and she always carried around her markers and pencils so she never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for those around her. i can't count the number of times emilie noticed someone feeling sad or frustrated and would rush to find a piece of paper to draw them a picture or to write them an encouraging note. emilie's card making was expressed beautifully this last october when she placed a very special card she had made into the casket with her grandpa, who also just recently died of a tragic accident. emilie was a mentor to her two little sisters and delighted in teaching them how to read, dance and find the simple joys in life. emilie's laughter was infectious and all those who had the pleasure to meet her would agree that this world is a better place because she's been in it. she was their best friend.

they were all born within three years of each other so by law, they're very close. she was teaching my middle daughter to read. she would help my youngest daughter learn how to make things, show her how to do crafts. they looked up to her and they looked to her when they needed comfort. usually that's saved for a mom and a dad. but it was really sweet to see the times when one of them would fall or get their feelings hurt, how they would run to emilie to get support and hugs and kisses. she was the type of person that could just light up a room. she always had something kind to say about anybody. and her love and the strength that she gave us and the example that she showed to us is remarkable.

she is an incredible person. and i'm so blessed to be her dad. i was leaving to work and she woke up before i left. and i've actually been teaching her portuguese. so our last conversation was in portuguese. and she told me good morning. asked how i was doing. i said that i was doing well. she said that she loved me. i gave her a kiss and i was out the door. free agency is given to all of us to act and do what we want. god can't take that away from us. i know that that's something that he was given and that's what he chose to do with it. i know that god can't take that away. i'm not mad because i have my agency to make sure that i use this event to do what i can to do whatever i can.

to want to make sure that my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care of and that if there's anything that i can do to help anybody at any time, anywhere, i'd be willing to do that. as we move on from what happened here, what happened to so many people, let it not turn into something that defines us, but something that inspires us to be better, to be more compassionate and more humble people. >> a father in mourning speaking of compassion for others. what happened at that school is sadly just the latest on a long list of violent attacks with guns over the years. when we first heard what happened in connecticut, people probably thought about the other deadly shootings. places like virginia tech or columbine joining me now is pastor rocky

veach who was living near littleton, colorado, when the columbine situation occurred. he now lives here in connecticut what do you say for families who come to you and people in this community who weren't even having a loved one at that school but who just -- everybody feels affected. what do you say? >> yeah, as a christian, what can you say to start with? but as a christian, you tell them, there's hope in the lord. god knows where you're at. god cares for you and loves you. rather than saying a lot about jesus, trying to be like jesus. that is what i'm trying to do >> it seems, too, a lot of times just being there is important and listening is as important as what you say. >> yeah, very much so. that's what anybody needs in this kind of setting. and having been in this setting a time before, and actually i'm glad to be around to be able to help people here. >> you feel like you're in the right place at the right time. >> yeah, right place at the right time. and the church that i pastor, i think they feel that way, too. we've been conducting prayer

meetings in the area, praying for people. and getting in touch with god and asking him to help them and help use us in ways that can be helpful toward other people. >> it is extraordinary -- i've spent a little bit of time in this town. just to see how people are coming together. people are stopping here, people are stopping down the street and just kind of talking to one another, complete strangers kind of reaching out to one another in grief and in sadness. >> yeah, i think it's beautiful. i think it's something in all of us that can help alleviate the pain when we go through a crisis situation. we need each other and that's one of the beautiful things about community. >> do you encourage people to talk about it? i lost a brother years ago to suicide. and my mom found it helpful to talk about it over and over again. and i found it very, very difficult and even still to this day. do you encourage people to talk? >> i encourage people to talk about it. and i encourage people to talk to the lord about it. sometimes we forget that we can talk to god, talk to him directly. and he understands in a way that a person really can't.

again, everything i'm about is looking to him. >> there are no doubt people who witness what happened and question faith, question how can this happen -- how can this be allowed to happen? how do you answer? >> that's the age-old question. i look at evil -- to believe in evil, you have to believe in good. i go back to the story of creation. god's the creator and there is an adversary, there is an enemy. god's not the author of this. the bible says that god is the author of abundant life. the devil is the author of this kind of life. he comes to steal, kill and destroy. it's sad. but god is bigger than that. that's why we point people towards him in this kind of scenario. >> and faith gets you through? >> faith gets you through. i think people find that faith gets them through a lot of things that you might not think it will at the time. having lived in columbine, i saw this once before -- or in denver during columbine, saw this once

before. it's amazing. changed my life watching how other people -- how god did help them and did get them through times when they thought they wouldn't make it through. >> and to see parents -- to see mr. parker speaking about his daughter, the strength that takes, the strength that takes just to get through minute by minute, second by second. >> yeah. no, that was very touching there. it's just a horrible scenario, a horrible situation. like we said in the beginning, words can't really do anything in this. how can i understand him? i just try to love him and be there for him and people like him, be there in the community. >> sometimes the words seem -- they feel so small in a situation like this. pastor, appreciate you being on. >> thank you so much. >> there's still a lot for us to learn in the days ahead and as our coverage continues. we'll take a short break. we'll continue remembering the victims tonight when we come back. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth.

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read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. tragic scene for everybody. certainly our hearts are broken for the families here.

>> well, you know, about 9:30, 9:40, we heard noises. and the announcement system was still on. so it didn't go off. so you could hear what sounded like pops, gunshots. >> her teacher managed to take two children out of the hallway, pull them into the classroom, lock the door and move everybody over to the other side of the room. >> we just told a little boy about his sister now. he said, who am i going to play with now? i have nobody to play with now. excuse me. >> when your first-grader goes to bed and says, mommy, is anyone from my class last year -- are they all okay? and you look at them and say, i'm not really sure.

>> you can never be prepared for this kind of incident. what has happened, what has transpired at that school building will leave a mark on this community and every family impacted. >> as i've been saying since the beginning of our coverage, we want to really focus on the victims, on the lives they lived. and we want today to try to learn as much as we can about them and in the days ahead, to learn as much as we can about them as when their families want that information out. at this point, we don't have pictures of many of the victims. we're waiting of course for families to release that if and when they choose to. but we do have their names tonight. and i just want to take a few moments and just read you their names so that you remember their names.

so often we remember the names of the shooters in these kind of situations. i think it's important to remember the names of the victims instead. charlotte bacon was just 6 years old. we remember her tonight. daniel barden was 7 years old. we remember him tonight. rachel davino, teacher, was 29 years old. we remember her. olivia engel, 6 years old. our thoughts are with her family. josephine gay was 7 years old. she just had a birthday on tuesday. ana marquez green was 6 years old. dylan hockley, 6 years old. principal dawn hochsprung 47 years old. madeleine was 6 years old. catherine hubbard was 6 years old as well. chase was 6 years old.

jesse louis, jesse was six years old, as well james was 6 years old as well. grace mcdonnell, 7 years old. anne marie murphy, she was a teacher, 52 years old. emilie parker, she was 6 years old. jack pinto, also 6. noah pozner was 6 years old. caroline was 6 years old as well. jessica was 6. avielle richman was also 6. she was killed yesterday. lauren was a substitute teacher, 30 years old. mair sherlach, the school psychologist, she was 56. teacher victoria soto was 27. benjamin wheeler was 6 years old.

and allison wyatt was 6 years old as well. we remember them all tonight and in the days, the weeks and hopefully the years ahead. a vigil in main street here in newtown. we're going to take a short break and be back in a moment.

the shooting in newtown is now the second deadliest school shooting in u.s. history behind the virginia tech massacre in 2007. after every event like this, the questions always are the same, what causes this kind of a shooting? how can this happen? how can they be stopped? i'm joined now by katherine newman from baltimore who wrote the book "rampage, the social roots of school shootings" she's studied many of these kinds of events. catherine, i really appreciate you being with us and i have read a little your research what have you learned about these shootings that are sort of counterintuitive? people think they know what causes them at times about the columbine. but so many of the things we thought we knew about columbine have turned out not to be true. what do we now know about what causes these kinds of events? >> that's so true. often what we learned in the beginning turn out to be dead wrong some of the common myths are

that these things are spontaneous. they're almost never spontaneous. some of the shootings we studied were planned over a nine-month period. often with they that nobody knows about what is coming, but sadly, there are quite a few people who have an inkling in some of the school shootings we studied, there were children who didn't come to school that day because they were worried something was going to happen but sadly they never told anyone who could have done anything. and so one of the counterintuitive things we learned was that there's a lot of information often circulating but it doesn't get to the right place. it doesn't mean that was true in this particular instance. it will take time before we know enough to generalize to it. but in the studies we studied -- and we studied all of them from the 1970s onward in the united states, it was frequently the case that there was a lot of knowledge in peer communities that didn't get through to the adults in time to do anything about it. it's also the case that it frequently happens in towns just like newtown, small, rural settings, not the places that we

think of as characteristically violent. we think of big cities as places where there's gun violence. and of course there is. but these kinds of shootings don't happen in big cities. they happen usually in small towns or suburbs. >> and is there a common thread in the mental health history of the boys involved in these? >> there is almost always a mental health condition. the sad thing is it's often unrecognized and untreated. so we don't know if that will be true in this case. but in most of the cases we looked at, there was after-the-fact evidence of mental disorders but no treatment. or had ever been diagnosed that's disturbing because we like to think we can recognize the symptoms. but particularly when the shooters are younger than this one, the ones we looked at were 13, 12, the signs of

distinguished mental illness that are going to be so vivid if they survive into their 20s are not so easy to discern when they're 13. so sadly there is a -- there's evidence after the fact often that comes up in forensic examinations, but not the kind of evidence that leads to the treatment that they so desperately need. >> it's also interesting in the book title, you talk about the social roots of these shootings. oftentimes the ideas that these are loners on the fringe. but you've found it's not that simple. >> no. sadly they are rarely loners. it's more characteristic to say they're failed joiners. they are people who have typically tried to join groups and are rebuffed and rejected. so their experience is not that of being a loner. it's of being pushed aside and made to feel rejected. and so what typically happens with these young men is that they go through a whole series of efforts to try and get attention and ingratiate themselves in groups.

all those efforts fail and they start talking about shooting people and suddenly everyone's paying attention. so they're trying to change how people think about them and notorious and evil seems better to them than a loser. >> it's one of the reasons i believe just in not trying to mention their names because just the idea that somebody can believe that they can game fame or notoriety by doing this, i just don't think it's good to perpetuate that. i kind your research really fascinating. i'd loov to talk to you more in the days ahead. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure, anderson. >> some memories are seared into our minds no matter how much one wants to forget them. the newtown shooting no doubt falls into that category for one of the school's teachers. yet in the midst of a crisis, she stayed remarkably calm for her kindergarten students. i talked to her, janet vollmer is her name. i want you to hear what she said about how she got herself through this crisis. listen. >> about 9:30, 9:40, we heard noises.

and the announcement system was still on. so it didn't go off. so you could hear what sounded like pops, gunshots. of course i'm not going to tell that to 5-year-olds. so i said to them, we're going over in a safe area and we're going to -- we read a story and we kept them calm. did a lockdown drill, closed the doors, locked -- covered the windows. kept the children with us. i have other adults -- >> i find that amazing that fearing that you hear gunshots, you were able to have the composure to sit down and read to your students. that's extraordinary. >> that's what you have to do with 5-year-olds because you can't lose it. i've been doing this for a long time. it's my 18th year of teaching. my job was to keep them safe. i didn't know -- there was no announcement of what was going on. my instinct was it wasn't good. so we kept them calm.

we stayed in the room until there was banging at the door, which were the police and the troopers or whoever was there. they had us exit the building. they told the children to cover their eyes and walk in a line and leave the building and that's when we went down towards the firehouse. we were all safe. i had 19 children in the room with me and thank goodness all of their parents were able to come and pick them up and take them home. >> as you were reading to them, did the kids realize something was going on or did they just think it was a drill like you'd had before? >> right. it didn't seem a natural thing. although we do practice drills. we just said, well, we're not really sure but we're going to be safe because we're sitting over here and we're all together. and that's as we got down to the firehouse later on, as a lot of the events started to unfold throughout the day, i think some of them realized the magnitude of what was going on. they saw other people upset.

but we just held them close until their parents came and we released them. my room, my children were all accounted for and safe in my kindergarten classroom >> we talked about some of the kids dealing with the potential for ptsd. also first responders dealing with the stress in all of this and what they've had to see. terry lyles deals with stress and crisis management. he joins me from miami. it is easy to forget these scenes are probably the worst many of these emergency workers have ever witnessed. i can't imagine the things they saw in those schools -- in that school. you help rescue workers deal with tragedy following the september 11th attacks. what's your advice? how do you help them? >> well, anderson, thank you for having me. i think the biggest thing that we have to remember is that the closest you are to the epicenter, hearing the shots, seeing the violence visually, the more you're going to need to be able to debrief. as i debrief special forces people and soldiers, it's very important that these children,

their parents understand that there's life after tragedy but we have to listen to their stories, we have to help them vent and release that information that they can normalize and go back to some type of life as they knew it before this tragic day. >> what kind of symptoms do parents, do friends of people need to look out for? >> well, typically with children, it's all age appropriateness. so it really depends. but usually sleep can be disrupted. there can be nightmares. there could be sudden noises that could startle them. moodiness that you've not seen before, maybe a loss in appetite or a loss of interest in normal things. and i think for parents mainly, we're all just mortified by this event. and i think as parents we have to make sure that we're talking to our children, regardless of where we are in the country or around the world, that we can let our children know and support them to say, listen, it's okay, this doesn't happen on a regular basis.

this was not a normal situation and we have to support them and care for them that they know that they're secured in a normal world that we live in. >> but talking about it helps? >> well, again, it depends on the age. the ages of the kids that you mentioned, i agree with you. i think it's very difficult to be able to even name the names and the ages of these children. it's heartbreaking. and i think what he can do, as we talk to our children, if children can draw pictures and write letters if that's what it goes, to friends that they lost or the situations they heard and destroy those letters. we destroy everything that is of waste to us. we put garbage bags out. we flush garbage disposals. it's the same way with the emotional waste. we have to help them vent and process, release it and let them know as we talk to them that they have a refuge within us and that we as parents are there to support them through this situation. >> terry lyles, i appreciate your expertise.